In between Jackanory & Blue Peter, Brian Cant in a trailer for "Play Away". Do please subscribe here on RU-vid and follow us on twitter @thetvmuseum for more goodies from the archives.
Doesn't matter if it's rainy or its fi-ine, just as long as you've got time to sing P L A Y, P L A Y play away-a-play away, play away-a-play away, play away! PLAY AWAY!
fab! i remember that start of Playaway so well, with the london bus and the playground. what a piece of history. i want to watch that blue peter now too!
The playaway team were interviewed on Radio 4's "The Reunion" a few years ago. Toni Arthur told the story of when one of the BBC staff brought their child in to see where they worked. Toni was in the corridor near them when Jon Pertwee walked past. The child excitedly exclaimed "Look, Toni, it's Dr Who!" The child had never met Toni, but immediately treated her like an old friend rather than a celebrity.
Oh yes. I remember that interview. I believe Brian Cant himself also retold the story of how a random boy approached him at a beach, starting up quite the casual conversation about what he had for his breakfast, telling Brian this like some sort of buddy or pal. It really goes to show, doesn't it? The choice in presenters for both "Play School" and "Play Away" all had a love for children that the BBC helped them to convey. People like Brian Cant, Toni Arthur, Floella Benjamin, Derek Griffiths, Johnny Ball, Julie Stevens, Diane Dorgan, Ben Thomas, Carol Chell, Lionel Morton, Chloe Ashcroft and all the rest of the presenters on both programmes were all able to look down the camera and actually engage children properly, building a bond with each individual child by pretending to talk to one child sitting alone.
Has anyone got a recording of the playaway song, "Going out to see the world" ? It was on a BBC Playaway LP I once had, sadly lost over the years. Loads of classic playaway stuff on it
I was a couple of weeks away from my eleventh birthday and remember this well. It all seemed uncomfortably baby-ish. Uncomfortable because Brian Cant had been a familiar face and voice for as long as I could remember. It was then that I realised that this programme was not intended for me and I became aware that my childhood was drawing to a close, time was passing and I was growing up.
Was that Brian Cant cross-dressing as well?- a good sport. Absolute legend from my childhood and prob pretty much anyone born around 1970 if they were around a tv. Back when the world was still probably shit but not in the ways it is today.
Actually, the Australian reboot of "Play School" came under fire recently for having a drag performer coming on the program to read a story, which I believed involved a girl who wanted to wear a suit as supposed to a dress. Many believed that the use of this drag star was a tool to try to brainwash children. But in my eyes, it's all a load of nonsense, and it's just water off a swan's back in my eyes.
